Finding the perfect college

November 11, 2009|By CHARLIE SANNER, Rockwood

College hunting. Sounds scary, doesn’t it? Well it can be, if you don’t prepare for it. Every year, parents and their children find themselves in a bind because they don’t have any game plan for the daunting task that lies ahead of them. Many of them wait until it is too late to properly view colleges and then have to deal with the repercussions. Here are some tips for potentially ill-equipped students to use in their arsenal in the fierce battle that is: college hunting.

First of all, start off early. Don’t wait until those final months of your senior year to start scouting for good colleges. The sooner you begin, the more of an opportunity you have to open doors into different college circumstances. One of the most pressing things to decide is whether you would prefer a larger college, like a state college, or a smaller college, like a regional college. Having an ample time-frame will also make your decision about attending a college or a university easier. A college only contains courses present in a four year post-secondary education while a university offers all those of a college in addition to graduate classes.

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Second, do your research. There is nothing worse than trying to look for a school when you have no idea what your interests are. Search out the kind of subjects you want to major in, and the classes that you need to take to major in that subject. Talk to your guidance counselor about college information, and show some interest in finding a college. Chances are that your counselor probably has a friendly relationship with some of the admissions officers and could make the entire process that much smoother.

Another good tip is to apply for information from colleges that you might be interested in so they can send you brochures and dates to come in and look into their college. If the opportunity arises, it is recommended to go on one of the tours that colleges hold, and if you do go, make sure that the college is in session. When college is in session during a tour, it gives you a chance to look at the life of the students as opposed to just the campus.

Lastly, make sure to send in the applications as soon as possible; you don’t want to be denied admission because of unexpected delays. The chance of acceptance is higher if the admissions department sees your application first, so the sooner the better. Also, don’t just send one application; send in as many as you can. This way, you have a back-up plan and several options to consider.

There are few things in a student’s high school career that compare to the importance and difficulty of finding the proper college. But hopefully, with these tips, your college hunt will go from jump-out-of-your-chair horrifying to a mild PG-13 scary.